Knitting machine



5 939. J. GETAZ 2,168,869

KNITTING MACHINE I I Filed' June 18, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 %JQNTOR BY IATTORNEY Aug. 8, 1939. J. L. GETAz ,i68,869

KNITTING MACHINE Filed Juz le 18, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet'Z ATTORNEY IPatented UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE v I i l if et hif'y v ifii'lenn.Application June 18, 1937, Serial No. 148,843

"needles then taking the inelastic thread in their 8 Claims.

My invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described,reference being had to the accompanying drawings which illustrate oneembodiment of the same, selected by me for pur- 6 poses of illustration,and the said invention is fully disclosed in the following descriptionand claims.

This invention is an improvement in knitting machines for formingseamless hosiery made of i plain fabric, and more particularly hosieryhaving elastic threads incorporated in the fabric along with theinelastic body threads, for example, in the top part of a sock oranklet, or other leg engaging portion, for the purpose of imparting aform fit to the plain fab ic by drawing it together so as to formvertica ridges, and at the same time to provide floatedportions of, theelastic thread forming substantially continuous horizontallydisposed'beads to engage the 20' leg and support the stocking or sock onthe leg.

One of the objects of the invention is to produce a smooth fiat fabrichaving the appearance of rib fabric, which is accomplished by feedingthe elastic thread under tension in front of alternate needles of thecircular series below the latches thereof and behind the interveningneetiles, so that when the sock or stocking is removed from the machine,it is contracted by the elastic threads in such manner that the wales 30are drawn together, alternate wales appearing on the face of the fabric,while intervening wales are drawn to the back of the stool( flatsurface, similar to 1 x 1 rib fabric, while as a matter of fact, thefabric is formed by plain knitting.

In my former application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 140,587, filedMay 4, 1937, which is a division of my application for Letters Patent 01the United States, Serial No. 53,824, filed December 10, 1935, I haveillustrated, described and claimed improvements in circular knitting.ma-

chines for the purpose of carrying out these general objects. In theoperation of such machines, an inelastic thread is fed to the hooks 4.3of all of the needles by means of one of the feeding fingers located atthe throat of the machine, and in order to insure the interlacing ing,giving a pass in front of the elastic thread, all of the hooks from thefeeding finger on the throat, before reaching the knitting wave. Whereordinary knitting needles are employed, they may occasionally strike theelastic" thread (which is 6 usually of greater diameterthan the ordinaryinelastic knitting thread or body thread) and 'either fail to pass infront of it, or in some instances force it upward against the latch ofthe needle and close the latches of adjacent needles, 10 in which caseit may also pass to the rear of the elastic thread, and by closing thelatches of adjacent needles prevent them from receiving the body thread,with the result that no stitch would be formed on those needles. 1 Inorder to prevent the possibility that the said intervening needles asthey rise will at any time pass in rear of the elastic thread, I providea latch ring having sufllcient depth in the portion thereof extendingfrom the point where the elastic thread is introduced to the throatplate, so thatv at the time of relative movement between the alternateneedles having the elastic thread below their latches and theintervening needles,

the latch ring will extend in front of the latches of the alternateneedles and preventthem from upward movement even if any of theintervening needles should strike against the elastic thread and raiseit, and also hold the elastic thread against the shanks of saidalternate needles. to

insure that, the said intervening, needles will possible, by which Imean merely that sharp angular turns should be avoided, to avoidfriction on the elastic thread which would have a tendency'to vary [thetension under which it is fed, and which it is desirable to have asuniform as possible.- To accomplish this result I prefer to provide thelatch ring with a delivery eye extending therethrough and to provide theauxiliary feeding flngr,-which is capable of movement into and out ofoperative position, with a delivery eye, so located as to register withthe delivery'eye in the latch ring'when the auxiliary feeding finger isin operative position, and to feed the elastic thread in as nearly astraight line as possible through these registering eyes in order thatthe threads shall be delivered to the needles with substantially uniformtension at all times.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of myinvention,

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic development of part of the knitting wave andknitting cams of -a circular knitting machine embodying my invention,showing how the two yarns are fed to the needles.

Fig. 2 is a plan view corresponding to Fig. 1, showing the needlecircle, and illustrating the manner in which the body thread and theelastic thread are fed to the needles, the small arrow indicating theknocking over point.

Fig. '3 is a side elevation of the parts indicated in Fig. 2, showingthe auxiliary thread feeding finger forthe elastic thread in operativeand inoperative positions.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line l-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 4a is an enlarged detail of a portion of the latch ring and twoadjacent needles at the moment when the intervening needles are passingin front of the elastic thread.

' Fig. 5 is a detail view of portions of the latch ring and auxiliarythread feeding finger, the latter being shown in operative position.

Fig. 8 is a similar view to Fig. 5, showing the inoperative position ofthe auxiliary feeding finger.

My invention finds its greatest use in carrying out the inventiondisclosed in my former application, Serial No. 53,824, above referredto, wherein the top portion of a stocking is knit by plain knitting andan elastic thread of rubber, or the well known Lastex, is interlacedwith the needles and incorporated in the fabric in the first course toform an elastic selvage, and thereafter in spaced courses throughout aportion of a sock or stocking, to produce a form fitting andself-supporting tubular portion, usually the top of a sock or hose,which has for many year been formed of rib knitting, although it is tobe understood that my invention is equally applicable to any other kindof hosiery and may be employed also for the purpose of introducing aninelastic thread, if that should be desirable. make no claim herein forthe process or the product disclosed in my said former application,Serial No. 53,824.

Any circular knitting machine having cylinder needles with selectivityas between successive needles can be adapted to make this sock orstocking. Thus, the well known Scott 8; Williams type of revolvingneedle cylinder machine, such as shown for example in the United StatesLetters Patent to Robert W. Scott, No. 1,152,850, dated September '1,1915, can be adapted to carry my present invention into effect, by theaddition of the mechanism hereinafter described, for feeding the elasticthread and by properly adjusting the various cams.

In the drawings, the needle cylinder is indicated at C, and is providedwith a circular series of needles, N, the upper ends of which, extendingfrom the point of pivoting of the latch to the hook portion, areinclined forwardly with respect to the shank of the needles.v Suchneedles can be obtained, and any of the so-called forward hook needlescan be advantageously employed for this purpose. Each needle is providedwith a I therefore butt, 11., adapted to engage the knitting cams,indicated at 360, 351 and 36l, respectively in the usual manner toeffect the drawing of stitches by the hooks of the needles. Selectedneedles, in this case every alternate needle, are provided with avertically disposed needle jack, indicated at 38I, and these jacks areprovided with butts, 72, adapted to engage a selecting cam, 366, locatedin advance of the throat, for the purpose of raising the alternateneedles, which are designated by the number 2!, above the interveningneedles, indicated by the numeral 22, at a point before the needlesreach the throat. The throat is indicated at 560 in Fig. 2, and isprovided with one or more thread feeding fingers, ,f, in the usualmanner.

L represents a. latch ring, shown in section in Figs. 4 and 4a, which isprovided with a delivery eye, i, located in advance of the throat,through which the thread to be interlaced with the needles, and which inthis instance is the elastic thread of rubber or Lastex, indicated at20, may be delivered through the delivery eye of an auxiliary feedingfinger, hereinafter described, so as to pass in a line, approximatelytangential to the circle of needles, and without sharp'turns, to avoidplacing any unnecessary friction on the thread. As shown herein thedelivery eye, i, in the latch ring, L, extends through the latch ringangularly to a radius of the ring, and substantially tangential to thecircle of the needle series. 30 represents the auxiliary thread feedingfinger which is preferably pivotally mounted on some stationary'part ofthe machine. It is here shown secured by a horizontal pivot, 29, to oneside of the throat, 560, but it may be secured at any desired part. Thethread feeding finger, 30, is provided at its outer end with adownwardly extending plate portion, 3!, which in its operative positionlies against the inner face of the latch ring, L, as shown in Fig. 4,and is provided with a delivery eye, 32, at its lower end, adapted toregister with the delivery eye, I, in the latch ring, and form acontinuation thereof, so that the auxiliary thread, 20, can pass freelythrough the registering delivery eyes, I and 32, with an avoidance ofsharp turns, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The auxiliary thread, in thiscase the elastic thread, 20, will be delivered from the supply spool insuch a manner as to pass into the delivery eye of the latch ring in asnearly a straight line longitudinally thereof as practicable, and iffound necessary or desirable, the latch ring, or some adjacent portionof the machine, may be provided with a grooved roller, indicated at 33,for this purpose, the thread, 20, passing to the roller as shown in fulllines in Fig. 2, or otherwise, as indicated in one or other of thedotted lines, 20a and 2011, according to the direction in which it comesfrom the spool. It will be understoodthat before passing through theregistering eyes, i and 32, the elastic thread passes through a suitabletensioning device, in dicated diagrammatically at T in Fig. 2, of anydesired character. The auxiliary thread feeding finger, 30, will beprovided with suitable means for automatically throwing it into and out.of operation. In this instance it is shown provided with an arm, 34,extending rearwardly of its point of pivoting and connected with a rodor link, 35, operated by suitable cam (not shown) for moving it from theoperative position, shown in full lines in Figs. 3 and 5, to theinoperative position, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, and in full linesin Fig. 6. As indicated in the latter figure, when. the feed finger ismoved to its inoperative position, it will lift the thread, 20, out of aposition in which it can be interlaced with the needles, in the mannerpreviously described, and hold it until the auxiliary thread guide, 30,is restored to its operative position. The knitting machine will alsopreferably be provided with a clamp and cutter of any desired form andoperating in any suitable manner for holding the elastic thread when theauxiliary thread guide, 30, is moved to inoperative position, and forsevering it after the elastic thread has been fed to all of the coursesdesired in the stocking which is being knit. These parts are well knownand are not herein shown. The body thread, which is fed to the hooks ofall-the needles, is indicated at 40 in Figs. 1 and 2, and is fed to theneedles by one of the ordinary feeding fingers, I, located at thethroat.

Assuming that the auxiliary thread guide, 30, is in its operativeposition, and the elastic thread is supplied under desired tension tothe registering delivery eyes, land 32, and that the machine is inoperation, the butts, n, of the needle jacks, 38l, will engage the cam,366, and elevate alternate needles, as indicatedat 2|, in

.Fig. 1 for example, sufficiently high to receive needles, 2|, theforwardly bent hook portions of the needles, 22, will pass in front ofthe elastic thread, 20, as clearly shown in Fig. 4a. The latch ring, L,is of suflicient depth so that it extends below the latches of theneedles, 2|, and any frictional engagement between the rising needles,22, and the elastic thread, 20, will not have the effect of closing thelatches of the adjacent needles, 2|, which will be held from upwardmovement by engagement with the inner face of thelatch ring. As theneedles pass the throat, the thread guide, f, thereof will feed the mainknitting thread, or body thread, 40,

to the hooks of all the needles, which will thereafter be drawn down bythe knitting ,cams in the usual manner to form a course of plain knitstitches, the loops of the inelastic body thread, 40, being drawn onopposite sides of theelastic thread in incorporating it in the fabric,in the manner fully described in my former application, Serial No.53,824. As soon as a complete course, of stitches has been formed withthe rubber. thread incorporated therein, the auxiliary feeding finger,30, will be drawn into inoperative position, so that one or more coursesmay be knit with the body thread, 40, alone, after which the threadguide, 30, can be restored to its operative position to knit a course,

containing the rubber thread, and so on.

As described in my aforesaid former application Serial No. 53,824, astocking may be set up on bare needles and the rubber thread, 30,'

interlaced with the needles, in the manner described, and incorporatedwithin the loops of the first course of stitches','which will be drawn,as before stated, on opposite sides of the rubber thread, thusforming acomplete singlethickness, nonravel edge or selvage, in the mannerdisclosed in my said former application, Serial No. 53,824, and inLetters Patent of the United States No. 2,054,217 dated September 15,1936,

on an application filed January 14, 1936, Serial No. 59,125, which is adivision of my said application Serial No. 53,824. After making thisselvage or non-ravel edge, the knitting of plain knit courses willcontinue and the elastic thread,

20. can be incorporated in courses at desired intervals by simply movingthe feeding finger, 30, into and out of operative position.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that by theconstruction shown and described, it is practically impossible for theintervening needles, 22, in raising, to pass in rear of the elasticthread, 20, or to force it up under the latches of adjacent needles,2|,-so as to close the latches thereof, and furthermore, when theelastic thread, 20, is being fed to the needles, 2|, below the latchesthereof, it will pass in as nearly a straight line through the deliveryeye, I, of the latch ring as practicable, and the registering delivery,32, of the feeding finger, 30, in a substantially tangential relation tothe needle circle, so that all undue friction which mightttemporarilyarrest the forward movement needles to cause the elastic thread to passbelow.

the latches, before the intervening needles are raised in front of theelastic thread.

' It will be understood from the foregoing description that the leadingfeature of my invention is to hold down the latches of the needles whichtake the elastic thread below the latches,

so as to keep the elastic thread from rising and hold it against theshanks of these needles, to

.insure the passage of the intervening needles when raised in front ofthe elastic thread, and this effect is further contributed to by theemplcyment of forward hook needles.

What I claim .and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A seamless hosiery knitting machine hav-' (ing. a circle ofindependent needles, a yarn feeding linger in advance of the throatplate, 'means for piacingaltemate needles at different levels at saidyarn finger to feed a thread in front of and below-the latches of saidalternate needles, and thereafter bringing all the needles tosubstantially the same level, a latch ring having the portion. betweensaid yarn feeding finger and the throat plate of sufllcient depth tohold down the latches of said alternate needles, to

prevent them from being raised by the thread below the latches thereofand to hold the threadfed by said fingers against the shanks of said nedles, said needles having forwardly extending hook portions to permitthe upper ends of the intervening needles to pass in front of' sa dthread when the .needles are brought to substantially the same level andcooperating with needles.

2. A seamless hosiery knitting machine having a circle of independent'needles, a yarn feeding finger in advance of the throat plate, meansfor placing alternate needles at different levels at said yarn finger tofeed a thread in front of and below the latches of said alternateneedles, and thereafter bringing all the needles to substantially thesame level, a latch ring having the portion between said yarn feedingfinger and the throat plate of sufficient depth to hold down the latchesof said alternate needles, and thereby hold the thread fed by saidfingers against the shanks of said needles, to insure the passage of theintervening needles in front of said thread to interlace it with theneedles, said latch ring being provided with a thread delivery eye inalignment with the delivery eye of the thread finger when in operativeposition, and means for feeding another thread to the hooks of all theneedles.

3. A-seamless hosiery knitting machine having a circle of independentneedles, a yarn feeding finger in advance of the throat plate, means forplacing alternate needles at different levels at said yarn finger tofeed a thread in front of and below the latches of said alternateneedles, and thereafter bringing all the needles to substantially thesame level, a latch ringhaving the portion between said yarn feedingfinger and the throat plate of sufficient depth to hold down the latchesof said alternate needles, and thereby hold the thread fed by saidfingers against the shanks of said needles, said needles havingforwardly extending hook portions cooperating with said latch ring ininsuring the passage of said intervening needles in front of said threadand interlacing it with the needles when the needles are brought tosubstantially the same level, said latch ring being provided with athread delivery eye in alignment with the delivery eye of the threadfinger when in operative position, and means for feeding another threadto the hooks of all the needles.

4. A seamless hosiery knitting machine having a circle of independentneedles, a yarn feeding finger in advance of the throat plate, means forplacing alternate needles at a different level at said yarn finger tofeed a thread in front of and below the latches of said alternateneedles, and thereafter bringing all the needles to substantially thesame level, each of said needles having a forwardly extending hookportion to place the intervening needles in front of the said thread,and interlacing itwith the needles, a latch ring provided with a threaddelivery eye in alignment with the delivery eye of the thread fingerwhen in operative position, and means for feeding another thread to thehooks of all the needles.

5. A seamless hosiery knitting machine having a circle of independentneedles, a yarn feeding finger in advance of the throat plate, means forplacing. alternate needles at a different level at said yarn finger tofeed a thread in front of and below the latches of said alternateneedles, and thereafter bringing all the needles to substantially thesame level, each of said needles having a forwardly extending hookportion to place the intervening'needles in front of said thread, andinterlacing it with the needles, a latch ring provided with a deliveryeye, saidfeeding finger being movable and having a terminal portionlying on the inner face of the latch ring and provided with a deliveryeye registering with the delivery eye in the latch ring. when inoperative position, means for feeding the said thread in a substantiallystraight line through said registering eyes, means for moving saidfeeding finger into and out of inoperative position, and means forfeeding another thread to the hooks of all the needles. I

6. A seamless hosiery knitting machine having a circle of independentneedles, a. yarn feeding finger in advance of the throat plate, meansfor placing alternate needles at a different level at said yarn fingerto feed a thread in front of and below the latches of said alternateneedles, and thereafter bringing all the needles to substantially thesame level, each of said needles having a forwardly extending hookportion to place the intervening needles in front of said thread, andinterlacing it with the needles, a latch ring constructed to prevent theraising of the latches of said alternate needles by upward pressure onsaid thread and provided with a delivery eye in advance of the throat,said feeding finger being pivotally mounted and having a part providedwith a delivery eye lying on the inner face of the latch ring with itsdelivery eye registering with that in the latch ring when in operativeposition, means for feeding said thread to the needles in asubstantially straight line through said registering apertures, meansfor moving said finger into and out of operative position, and means forfeeding another thread to the hooks of all the needles 7. A seamlesshosiery knitting machine having a circle of independent needles, a yarnfeeding finger in advance of the throat plate, means for placingalternate needles at a different level from intervening needles at saidyarn finger, to feed a thread in front of and below the latches of saidalternate needles and thereafter bringing all the needles tosubstantially the same level, each of said needles having a forwardlyextending hook portion to place the intervening needles in front of saidthread and interlacing it with the needles, a latch ring provided with adelivery eye in ad- 'vance of the throatextending therethrough in a linesubstantially tangential to the needle circle, said feeding finger beingmovable and having a terminal portion lying'on the inner face of thelatch ring. and provided with a delivery eye registering with thedelivery eye on the latch ring when in operative position, means forfeeding said thread to the needlesin a substantially straight linethrough said registering apertures, a tension means for the said thread,means for moving said finger into and. out of operative position, andmeans for feeding another thread to the hooks of all the needles.

8. A seamless hosiery knitting machine having ing a circle ofindependent needles, means for placing alternate needles at differentlevels in advance of the throat plate, a yarn feeding finger in advanceof the throat plate located so as to effect the feed of a thread infront of the alter-- nate needles at the higher level only and below thelatches thereof, means for effecting relative movement between saidalternate needles and the intervening needles to bring all the needlesto substantially the same level, a latch ring having portions betweensaid yarn finger and the throat plate in position to prevent the latchesof said alternate needles being raised during said relative movement ofthe needles to the same level, by the frictional engagement of theintervening needles with said thread, and to insure the interlacing ofsaid thread with the needles, and means for feeding another thread tothe hooks of all the needles. I

JAMES LOUIS GETAZ.

.-James Louis Ge dated Aug. 8, 1939. Davis Company.

Hereby enters this discla 01 Gazette Augu Disclaimer taz, MaryvillDisclaim TTING MACHINE. Patent July 13, 1

imer to claims 1 to 8, inclusive, of said patent.

